Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. The Tewaaraton Foundation announced its finalists.
Reigning Tewaaraton Award winner Charlotte North is a finalist again this year. The Boston College attacker could join assistant coach Sam Apuzzo as the second Eagle to win back-to-back Tewaaraton Awards. Three other ACC student-athletes made the women’s list in North Carolina teammates attacker Jamie Ortega and midfielder Ally Mastroianni and Syracuse attacker Meaghan Tyrrell. Maryland attacker Aurora Cordingley rounds out the list.
UNC and Maryland also boast men’s finalists. UNC’s Chris Gray, the NCAA’s all-time leader in points, is a second-time finalist. Maryland attacker and No. 1 Premier Lacrosse League draft pick Logan Wisnauskas, Sam Handley (Penn), Brendan Nichtern (Army) and Connor Shellenberger (Virginia) are in the running for the first time.
Both winners will be announced Thursday, June 2 at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.
2. The Division I women’s NCAA Tournament begins today.
The top three seeds in No. 1 North Carolina, No. 2 Maryland and reigning champion No. 3 Boston College won’t play until Sunday, but the rest of the field must win one to earn one. The action begins with a trio of games at 3 p.m. (Mount St. Mary’s at No. 5 (6) Loyola, Johns Hopkins and No. 9 Duke in College Park, Md. and Drexel at No. 4 (8) Stony Brook) and ends with No. 20 Michigan and No. 15 Notre Dame at 8 p.m.
All games will air on ESPN+. You can get the full schedule here and acclimate yourself with the bracket here.
3. The Division II women’s NCAA Tournament starts, too.
All 16 Division II NCAA tournament teams will be in action in today’s first-round games. Each contest will be played on the campuses of the tournament’s top seeds in East Stroudsburg University (Atlantic region), Stonehill College (East region), University of Indianapolis (Midwest region) and Queens University (South region).
The winners will stay put for Sunday’s second-round games. Check out the bracket.
4. The MCLA Division I championship game is set.
No. 8 Georgia Tech led from start to finish in an upset 12-10 win over No. 5 Clemson. Asher Wagnon scored four goals to lead Georgia Tech.
In the second semifinal, defending national champion No. 3 South Carolina downed No. 2 Brigham Young 11-9 behind an 11-save performance by Alex Petrush. Ga. Tech and South Carolina will square off in the national championship game Saturday.
5. UNTOLD debuts.
USA Lacrosse Magazine launched a new series, UNTOLD, in which members of the lacrosse community tell their stories in their words. In the inaugural piece, Stevenson goalie Marc Poust discussed loss, family and lacrosse.
WHAT WE’RE READING
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NFL Players Association director DeMaurice Smith used his commencement speech for Delaware State University to speak out about disturbing videos of a Liberty County (Ga.) police search of the school’s women’s lacrosse team bus April 20. Smith pointed out the irony that players of the nation’s oldest sport had to confront “America’s oldest sin.” DSU President Tony Allen also mentioned the incident, according to a report from Delaware Online.
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The IWLCA announced its All-Region teams for Divisions I and II.
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Vermont will play in the NCAA women’s tournament for the first time tonight when it takes on Big East champion Denver. As Charlotte Varnes writes, don’t count the Catamounts out if it’s a close one.
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Maryland could dogpile twice on Memorial Day Weekend. The Wall Street Journal looks at both the men’s and women’s pursuit of more trophies for the display case.
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Paul Ohanian breaks down the Division II women’s tournament’s opening weekend. Spoiler Alert: There could be some upsets.
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You win some. You lose some. Troy Nunes details the Syracuse men’s rollercoaster week in the transfer portal.
WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
Max Wayne’s Christopher Newport teammates couldn’t have been more excited for him when they heard his name called in the PLL draft earlier this week. But before Wayne suits up for the Atlas, he’ll lead CNU in the Division III NCAA tournament. The Captains play Sewanee Saturday at noon.
The reaction from Max Wayne and his @CNULacrosse teammates when they hear he was drafted to the @PLLAtlas pic.twitter.com/nMSEY2WGgP
— Premier Lacrosse League (@PremierLacrosse) May 11, 2022
WHAT’S ON TAP
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After one of the most controversial brackets in NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse history, the tournament continues with first-round games on Saturday. Also on Saturday, Division III men play second-round games, and Division II men enter the quarterfinal round.
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The Division I and II women’s tournaments continue Sunday with the second round. The Division III tournament kicks off Saturday.
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Colorado and San Diego State square off in game one of the NLL western conference final tonight at 10 p.m. on ESPNU.